Hi

I'm considering taking early retirement and moving to Thailand. Ideally I'd like to start with a standard tourist visa so I can visit some friends and do some travelling, and maybe even extend it. Then get an educational visa to stay for a year, learn Thai and get a feel for living in Thailand. If all goes well I'd then like to apply for a retirement visa. I have enough savings to satisfy the 800,000 baht in the bank requirement.

So my questions are, can I convert a tourist visa to an educational visa, even with an extension to the toursit visa? My research suggests that I have to apply for an educational visa outside Thailand, is there a way round this?

Can I convert an educational visa to a retirement visa and do I have to have the 800,000 baht in the bank everytime I renew the retirement visa?

Many thanks